Minority Democrats in the Ohio Senate say they’ll be focusing on jobs, the economy and education in bills they will present in the new general assembly.
Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko says his members want to focus on bills to create jobs, train Ohioans for those jobs and help working Ohioans get ahead.
“We have the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and the gap is becoming larger and larger and larger. And some of our legislation is going to reflect this," Yuko says.
Yuko says he thinks there is common ground with Republicans on certain issues. And he says majority lawmakers might be more receptive to some proposals, like a bill banning discrimination against LGBTQ Ohioans, once they realize the impact it has on business.
The Ohio Fairness Act was reintroduced by state Sen. Nickie Antonio this week, after failing to gain traction for the last 10 years. Ohio Business Competes, a group that represents hundreds of business around the state, backs the bill. Last year, it only received a single hearing in the Republican-dominated legislature.
The Human Rights Campaign recently ranked Ohio among the worst states for LGBTQ equality, due to its lack of anti-discrimination laws.
